"Expecting Mothers Should Take Polio Immunizations"

Pregnant women can take the polio vaccination without fear, according to Bnei Brak Medical Center.

By Kochava Rozenbaum

First Publish: 8/19/2013, 3:30 PM

Vaccination against Poliomyelitis

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Mayanei HaYeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak recently commented in response to the numerous queries by pregnant women who are uncertain whether taking the vaccine for polio may inadvertently harm their pregnancies.

According to Dr. Neiger, the vaccine does not pose as a risk for the mother or the fetus. Furthermore, he emphasized that if a child is not vaccinated, he could develop a virus which could endanger the mother and the fetus.

Today is the second day of Israel’s national vaccination campaign against the spread of polio. Since it was launched yesterday morning, some 30,000 children throughout the country were vaccinated. The Ministry decided to embark on the nationwide inoculation program after samples taken from around the country showed that the disease was showing up in more places in the center of the country.

The Ministry of Health noted that samples were taken from the children who came in for the inoculation and showed that some 4.4% of the children examined were carrying the germs. They have already identified 42 carriers of the wild polio virus.